Police open probe after Likud ministers accuse pro-Netanyahu commentator Bardugo of blackmail
Police have opened an investigation after three ministers from the Likud party accused right-wing media personality Jacob Bardugo, considered a close association of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of attempting to blackmail them, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
The accusations were made last week by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Culture Minister Miki Zohar and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi. Bardugo allegedly made threats of unspecified consequences for noncompliance.
According to Kan, the three ministers were approached by police over the weekend.
The broadcaster says it remains to be seen “whether the fear of Bardugo and Netanyahu will take its toll and they will avoid giving testimony.”
Haaretz reports that Levin does not intend to appear, Zohar said that he is flying abroad in the coming days and will update police, while Karhi told law enforcement he will be in contact in the coming days.
Kan says the decision to open an investigation was made after consultations between Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, State Attorney Amit Aisman and head of the police investigations department, Deputy Commissioner Boaz Blatt.
Last week Levin was the first to public accuse Bardugo.
“Because of personal matters, he obsessively slanders me from every platform and every day. It’s disrespectful, it’s not appropriate. It mainly helps one person, the one who calls himself the president of the Supreme Court. He wants me to be weakened from within,” Levin charged during an interview with Radio Galey Israel.
“When a person comes to me with demands that no decent person would agree to and tells me ‘if you don’t meet these demands…’ I don’t want to use the words he said,” Levin added, without elaborating.
Bardugo has recently been highly critical of Levin, as well as Karhi and Zohar, for the coalition’s failure to advance its legislative agenda and for graffiti sprayed on his home — creating a months-long public feud. Levin, Karhi and Zohar are all prominent members of Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party.
“Jacob Bardugo does not represent the right – he represents himself,” Karhi tweeted, describing the pundit as “a powerful figure who is trying to run the country according to his personal interests.”
“The threats, the pressures, and the lies are well-known and familiar. But we will not be deterred. We were not elected to please commentators with a microphone – but to serve the people of Israel,” Karhi wrote, calling on Levin to “not be afraid.”
In a separate post, Zohar offered his support to Levin, “who is vigorously leading the important reform to fix the judicial system and is dealing with threats from home and abroad.”
“Like other ministers, I too have encountered the phenomenon of threats from Jacob Bardugo, who has vested interests and has intimidated the elected representatives of the right in a despicable manner,” Zohar wrote.
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